Free Range on Fairview

sleep, sleep, sleep! I know that Danielle is staying after school today and we don't need to pick her up until 3:45pm so here I am at 2:30 and yet to have showered. Sure we have done some stuff today, but it has definitely been a lazy day. At least there are plenty of leftovers in the house to keep us fed and a few extra cable channels to keep us busy. Tomorrow will be a real day where I'll have to be out of the house early so I can keep pushing it for a little bit. Tomorrow is Bible study at 9am followed by library story time for the boy, then lab work for the pregnancy, home for lunch and rest, then pick up Danielle and going back into town for a dr.'s appointment to try to hear the baby's heart beat. At 10 weeks we should be able to any day! Just thinking about all of that makes me tired. On top of all of it I was feeling sort of lousy this morning and laying down but got up to see Shane off for work and kissed him goodbye then had to run to the bathroom. Now he thin...

We're pregnant! Little baby is due on June 25th, 2010. Shane and I are so excited and the kids are too! Congratulations to everyone who will be a grandma, grandpa, aunt, uncle, big brother, big sister, and anyone else who knows our little family. Here is a picture of me at weeks 9 & 10. The baby is growing fast, already 1.25 inches :)

A week late but gotta keep the masses updated. Last Friday night the kids and I had a movie night since Shane was gone for the weekend hunting over in Colleville. We rented the movie Twilight (since the sequel came out last night) and pulled out the hide-a-bed, made a cozy den and ate popcorn all night long. It was great to hang out with the kids and cuddle up during the slumber party. We had a fun time and had to document it of course. The first picture I took with a timer the dog tried to figure out why this little silver thing is beeping a flashing and walked right in front of the camera, perfect timing. The second one the kids were being silly, but that's how most of the night went.

One of Dylan's newest passions is coloring in a fuzzy picture. You know kind of like a velvet Elvis but it's kid pictures that you can color in yourself. He got one the other day and this is the first (and only so far) project that he has worked on for a while and then come back another day to work on for a while more. He is actually taking his time and trying to do well. That makes me a happy momma. While trying to take this picture I asked him to look at me and he replied "I can't. You're ruining my concentration." Wow they grow fast. The kids have been playing great together lately. My only gripe is that I have to separate them for the usual reasons. They just can't keep their hands to themselves, always touching or poking, tickling or giving wedgies. But luckily I've got some great kids.

We drew a picture of Dylan playing with Uncle Josh and sent it to him the other day without thinking anything about how it is going international and if that might cost more/be sent differently so here is the picture anyway. Dylan likes to water color but usually only if there is a picture to color it. I drew all the stuff in sharpie but Dylan drew Grandma Cheryl in the pink pen on the right hand side of the page. Slowly he is getting more patient and creative, I love it!

Thanksgiving is only 3 weeks away! Holy moly that is going to sneak up on me faster than I think. This year I am hosting Thanksgiving dinner here with my family and my mom and my dad and his girlfriend. Josh is out of the country for the holidays :( Jackie is working that day so we won't have her around either. Usually Shane goes over to his parents house for dinner so hopefully they don't miss him too much. Christmas Time is just around the corner and I am so excited! I just love love trying to find the perfect present for someone (although our gift giving circle is slowly growing, we are cutting down) namely the kiddos. Shane is easy because all he wants is hunting stuff and he just picks that out of a catalogue. Dylan is still pretty easy because he loves toys and boy things. Star Wars, Transformers, weapons/hunting and computer games. And then comes Danielle. She is 16 and just had a birthday in October. Yikes. Luckily gift cards go a long way for a girl her age. I've g...

Wow today went by quickly. Started the day off with an eye doctors appointment for Dylan (the nurse at his 4 year check up said that he didn't do great on his little eye exam part) so we went in and he did great! Perfect vision (as of now) and even got his eyes dialated and they gave him cool sunglasses to wear home. He was so excited to go this morning and the first thing he said to me when he woke up this morning was "I can't believe I get to go to the eye doctor in the fall!" I guess he is learning something in our little school sessions. We talked about the trees and how some keep their leaves all winter and some drop them and then investigated all the ones we found around the town over last weekend. On a somewhat unrelated note I am so excited to get the house decorated for the upcoming holiday seasons. I love all the cute decorations the dollar store has these days :)

Oh man October has just flown by! We've had a busy, busy month but as I like to say "Hello chaos, my name is Shannon." Let's see. We had Danielle's 16th Birthday on October 11th! We were able to get a few of the family together for a party including Aunt Megan, Uncle Coby, Grandpa Larry and Grandma Shirley. Danielle didn't get the car she was hoping for, but we all had fun together.Shane's birthday was October 24th and we are so happy to have him around. He got to pick out his presents back during the summer at his favorite store Cabela's. Apparently you never can have enough camouflage. :) On the 30th of October Dylan and I and about 10 other kids with MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) went to two different assisted living facilities in town in costume to pass out cards that the kids had made and to just spend time with the folks in those homes. Kids are never too young to start learning about community service. Then of course, October 31st was Halloween...